If we look back to the turn of
the previous century with an eye to personal freedom and independence,
it comes as no surprise that we are a lot less free today, and that
we are much more individually dependent on the burgeoning bureaucracies
of Washington.

This should concern gun owners
because the mindset of dependency will not be limited to our old
age, medical care, education, operating a business, and virtually
every other area of life. To think that somehow guns will remain
a cocoon of freedom in a society that otherwise is enmeshed in government
control is self-delusional.

Moreover, the expansion of government
has followed a universal tactic spelled out by Boise State University
Professor of Economics, Dr. Charlotte Twight, in her book Dependent
on DC. She discussed this topic with me in her Live Fire interview
which can be found at http://www.gunwoners.org/radio.htm

Politicians and bureaucrats quickly
discover on entering office that making it tough to find out what
they are up to keeps the peasants from getting all riled up. Dr.
Twight read through mountains of testimony before Congress and other
documents. She developed her theory of the universal tactic from
her voluminous reading.

In brief, the elements of the
universal tactic are first, the fog factor - an appealing rationale,
even if it is irrelevant or untrue. For example, don't call controls
controls so that those being controlled won't resist the proposal.
Second, proposals should be multi-faceted so that there is something
for everybody. Third, get the executive's support so his powers
can be used to drag along reluctant legislators. Fourth, get bureaucrats
behind the proposal because it means more jobs. Fifth, get outside
interest groups to support it because it means money and power for
them. Sixth, get a political party behind it because the proposal
will attract a supportive constituency that will benefit. Seventh,
keep the media from getting information that would impair the proposal's
prospects. Eighth, appeal directly to the self-interest of a group
of voters. Ninth, show the big government supporters that your proposal
is consistent with their ideology. Tenth, take it easy, promote
the proposal incrementally.

Twight found that whatever the
fog factor that might surround a proposal when it was discussed
in public, at hearings or at other venues that were less visible
to the public, officials were often surprisingly candid.

During the debates over the income
tax, Rep. James M. Miller (R-KS) was unashamed to reveal his larcenous
spirit: "I stand here as a representative of the Republican party
of the central West to pledge you my word that the great western
states will be found voting with you for an income tax. Why? Because
they will not pay it!"

A former Treasury Department
economist had this advice: "…an essential principle in taxation
is 'Don't do anything suddenly.'" Not as colorful as the way to
cook a live frog in gradually heated water, but the point is the
same.

When the Soviet Union launched
its Sputnik satellite, the federal government used that as an opportunity
to get itself involved in education to solve the "crisis." It was
not found convenient by the Eisenhower administration to tell America
that the government had an even more sophisticated satellite ready
for launch.

Speaking of the pending measure
to get the federal government involved in local education, Assistant
Superintendent of Education, Dr. Burton Donovan, said it straight
out: "This is our first… crack at Congress for it. We did not want
to come down here and bite the hand that is trying to feed us….
So we are a little more gentlemanly than we will be next time."
A "crisis" got the Feds involved in elementary and secondary education,
but nothing would get them out.

When the Social Security system
was initiated, an individual's Social Security number was not to
be used for purposes of an ID. I still have my original card, and
it bears the promise that the card is not to be used for purposes
of identification.

Twight sums up the history of
that lie with these words: "Incrementalism, misrepresentation, hiding
threatening measures in larger bills, and other forms of [making
it hard to find out what was really being done] spawned a system
of linked federal databases that now makes it virtually impossible
for a person to opt out of, let alone actively resist, the federal
government's monitoring of ordinary, law-abiding American citizens."

For practical purposes we do
have a national ID card. We don't have to carry it or show it to
authorities as in Nazi Germany. Rather, the number is placed by
our names in the myriad of government databases that keep Big Brother's
eyes on us 24/7.

Gun owners are already aware
of this. We haven't been able to buy a gun at a store since 1968
without providing our social security number.

But don't worry about all the
government knows about you. It is all for your own good. And especially
for the children.

Larry Pratt has been Executive Director of Gun
Owners of America for 27 years. GOA is a national membership organization
of 300,000 Americans dedicated to promoting their second amendment freedom
to keep and bear arms.

GOA lobbies for the pro-gun position in Washington
and is involved in firearm issues in the states. GOA's work includes providing
legal assistance to those involved in lawsuits with the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms, the federal firearms law enforcement agency.

Pratt has appeared on numerous national radio
and TV programs such as NBC's Today Show, CBS' Good Morning America, CNN's
Crossfire and Larry King Live, Fox's Hannity & Colmes, MSNBC's Phil Donahue
show and many others. He has debated Congressmen James Traficant, Jr.
(D-OH), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Senator Frank
Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Vice President Al Gore, among others. His columns
have appeared in newspapers across the country.

He published a book, Armed People Victorious,
in 1990 and was editor of a book, Safeguarding Liberty: The Constitution
& Militias, 1995. His latest book, On the Firing Line: Essays in the Defense
of Liberty was published in 2001.

Pratt has held elective office in the state legislature
of Virginia, serving in the House of Delegates. Pratt directs a number
of other public interest organizations and serves as the Vice-Chairman
of the American Institute for Cancer Research.

"When the Social Security system
was initiated, an individual's Social Security number was not to be used
for purposes of an ID. I still have my original card, and it bears the
promise that the card is not to be used for purposes of identification."